DM Reiterates Iran's Strong Power in Defending Airspace

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TEHRAN, June 11 (ICANA) – Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said that Iran's military forces are fully prepared to repel any potential threat and aggression against the country's airspace.

Saturday, June 11, 2011 4:43:57 PM

"We are powerful in sky too, and the Iranian Armed Forces' air defense capabilities are enough to defend the country," Vahidi told FNA on Saturday.

He dismissed western rumors and speculations about fragility of Iran's air defense power, and stated, "Our response to any aggression will be strong and decisive."

Vahidi dismissed effectiveness of military threats against Iran, and said enemies do not dare to attack the country.

"Enemies do not dare to threaten Iran, as they have claimed to attack Iran on several occasions, but they themselves realized that their threats are far from practical realities," the Iranian minister noted.

In May, Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli announced that Iran has a comprehensive plan to strengthen its air defense capability by using a combination of various missile defense systems for different altitudes.

"We are working on strengthened air-defense citadels, and we make use of all systems for all altitudes to keep these citadels strong," he told reporters in early May.

The commander added that the Iranian air defense unit can cover an area, at least, 80,000 feet in altitude.

Later in May, Esmayeeli told FNA the country's latest home-made missile system, Sayyad 2, had been deployed in all air-defense units across the country.

He added that the new air-defense system would boost the capabilities of Iran's air-defense units to a large degree.

As regards the capabilities of the new missile system, Esmayeeli stated that the system would "increase the range, altitude and tracking and interception power of the country's missile shield".

"Its upgraded and digitalized system has increased the power and precision of Sayyad 2 missile system," the commander reiterated.

Iran had earlier unveiled Sayyad 1 surface-to-air missile which is a two-staged air defense missile that is capable of destroying targets with low Radar Cross Section (RCS) at low and medium altitudes.

The system enjoys the capability to defuse jamming and electronic warfare attacks.

Sayyad 2 is an upgraded version and enjoys higher precision, range and destruction power compared with its previous version.